Zinga Pharmaceutical Company Oscar Kombo (right) exchange views with Waico Project officials during the launch of the drug project in Bagamoyo, Coast, on Thursday. PHOTO | ERICKY BONIPHACE
What you need to know:
Zinga Pharmaceuticals Company director Mary Mayige said a loan for the project would be secured from UTT Asset Management and Investor Services Plc The project construction is scheduled to take 18 months.
Bagamoyo. A Sh70 billion pharmaceutical factory will be built in Bagamoyo.
Zinga Pharmaceuticals Company director Mary Mayige said a loan for the project would be secured from UTT Asset Management and Investor Services Plc The project construction is scheduled to take 18 months.
It is aimed at producing essential drugs including ARVs and antimalarials.
Dr Mayige hopes the factory will help transform healthcare settings in Tanzania as the government has been spending heavily on importing drugs.
“The aim is to complement the government efforts to industrialise the country.”
A pharmacist with the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Ms Siana Mapunjo, assured that the government would work closely with the private sector to attain the industrialisation plan. She was speaking on behalf of minister Ummy Mwalimu. According to ministry, the government spends more than Sh200 billion on importing essential drugs and medical supplies annually.
The cost is projected to rise to Sh800 billion by 2021. “Tanzania has 13 pharmaceutical factories. Despite the number, the assurance of the availability of essential drugs has been by only 20 per cent. There is a need to construct more factories.”
